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2004 Sinai bombings
|target= |map= Hilton Taba Ras al-Shitan |date=7 October 2004 |type=car bombings |fatalities=34 |injuries=171 |perps=masterminded by Iyad Saleh and carried out by a Palestinian group |motive=presumably the Israeli-Palestinian conflict }} .]] The 2004 Sinai bombings were three bomb attacks targeting tourist hotels in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, on 7 October 2004. The attacks killed 34 people and injured 171. The bombings The explosions occurred on the night of 7 October, against the Hilton Taba and campsites used by Israelis in Ras al-Shitan. In the Taba attack, a truck drove into the lobby of the Taba Hilton and exploded, killing 31 people and wounding some 159 others. Ten floors of the hotel collapsed following the blast.Death toll rises in Egypt blasts BBC News 9 October 2004. Retrieved 3 January 2013. Some south, at campsites at Ras al-Shitan, near Nuweiba, two more bombings happened. A car parked in front of a restaurant at the Moon Island resort exploded, killing two Israelis and a Bedouin. Twelve were wounded. Another blast happened moments later, targeting the Baddiyah camp, but did not harm anyone because the bomber had apparently been scared off from entering the campground by a guard.Penny Spiller (11 October 2004). Taba attacks Shatter Sinai Tourism BBC News. Retrieved 3 January 2013. Of the dead, 15 were Egyptians, 12 were from Israel, two from Italy, one from Russia, and one was an Israeli-American. Nationalities of the victims The investigation According to the Egyptian government, the bombers were Palestinians who had tried to enter Israel to carry out attacks there but were unsuccessful. The mastermind, Iyad Saleh, recruited Egyptians and Bedouins to gain explosives to be used in the attacks. Beginning in March 2004, the bombers used washing machine timers, mobile phones and modified gas cylinders to build the bombs. They used TNT and old explosives found in the Sinai (as it was many times a war zone), which were purchased from Bedouins, to complete the bombs.Sinai attackers failed to enter Israel Ynet 4 February 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2014. Egypt has said that Saleh and one of his aides, Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Flayfil, died in the Hilton blast, apparently because their bomb timer had run out too fast.Egypt jails five in Sinai attacks Washington Post Three Egyptians, Younes Mohammed Mahmoud, Osama al-Nakhlawi, and Mohammed Jaez Sabbah were sentenced to death in November 2006 for their roles in the blast.Egyptian Court Condemns 3 Militants Washington Post Egypt arrested up to 2,400 people following the attacks.Mass arrests after Sinai bombs BBC News. Retrieved 3 January 2013. According to investigators, there is no strong link to Al Qaeda in the blasts. Aftermath Israel had warned in September 2004 that terrorists were planning attacks in the Sinai, but most Israelis did not heed those warnings and went on vacation there instead.Security questions over Sinai attacks BBC News. Retrieved 3 January 2013. Many Israelis left the Sinai after the bombings, along with some foreign tourists, but the effects on the country's tourism were not too severe. Militants struck again in Cairo at tourists in April 2005, killing three and wounding several. Resorts in Sharm el-Sheikh were bombed in a similar attack in July 2005 and in Dahab in 2006. See also *April 2005 Cairo attacks *2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks *2006 Dahab bombings *Ras Burqa massacre External links * Blasts Hit 3 Egyptian Resorts Popular With Israelis - The New York Times 8 October 2004 * 27 people killed in 3 bombings - The New York Times 8 October 2004 * Al-Qaeda suspected in attacks at resorts in Egypt - USA Today 7 October 2004 * Dozens killed in bomb blasts at Sinai resorts - The Guardian 8 October 2004 * Terror bombings hit Taba and Ras a-Satan in Sinai 7-Oct-2004 - Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs References Category:Mass murder in 2004 Category:Terrorist incidents in 2004 Category:Terrorism in Egypt Category:2004 in Egypt Category:Suicide bombings in Egypt Category:Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Category:Islamic terrorism Category:Suicide car and truck bombings in Egypt Category:Palestinian terrorism Category:Sinai Peninsula